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Tuesday Dec 22, 2009

Reviews
Interactive recently spoke with Wim De Munck and Johan Vos of LodgON discussing how the
company
is using JavaFX to deliver social networking products and services to
clients. Both Wim and Johan were early Java pioneers who became
interested in JavaFX technology when it was first announced as a
Java-based RIA development tool at the JavaOne 2007 keynote address.
They were pleased to find that JavaFX has benefits on both the
development side and for the application's end-user. As Johan said: “For
our developers, JavaFX is a relief since the write-once
run-anywhere paradigm now holds for Web development as well,”
and pointed out that the end user equally benefits, of course, “from
the fact that a more attractive user interface can now be offered.”

LodgON uses Java end-to-end in its
application development, and Johan said he has found using JavaFX to
be critical to both the front-end and the back-end development. As
he stated, “In social networking software, the interactions
between users are very important; they provide part of the real value
of a project,” and pointed out
that “the
JavaFX HttpRequest in combination with the Jersey RESTimplementation
in the Glassfish back-end allows for a high number of small
requests.” Additionally, Johan reported that with
JavaFX, LodgON has experienced “a dramatic reduction of the
development time,” which he
said saves the company from losing time “writing dirty
hacks in JavaScript/CSS for each different browser.”

Johan
said the primary advantage JavaFX offers a Java developer “is
the ability to use the familiar Java APIs in the JavaFX code.” And
while LodgON also does projects in
Flex, Johan said there is no
mistaking the fact that the ability to use the Java Syntax in JavaFX “allows
for a really fast development.” As an added bonus, Wim said “customers
really like the
'application style' of the projects we do with JavaFX.” He listed
highlights his customers have
pointed to with the
employment of JavaFX including “the ability to drag the
JavaFX application out of the browser window, close the browser and
still continue working with the JavaFX application.”

Johan also reported that LodgON is
actively working on proof-of-concepts in a mapping software component
for opening up JavaFX to Location Based Services as well as an OSGi
service browser written in JavaFX that can handle both OSGi bundles
in addition to JavaFX apps. As to what he hopes the future holds
with JavaFX, Johan said that having a component that allows LodgON to
edit HTML “would allow us to port even more applications to
JavaFX.” LodgON is clearly
dedicated to learning and sharing more about JavaFX, and has just
created a new section on the
company's Web site where it profiles a sample of its JavaFX
applications.

To read more about how LodgON is using JavaFX and what other
benefits it has realized from its implementation of the technology,
check out the full interview transcript here.

Tuesday Dec 15, 2009

Reviews
Interactive recently spoke with the October
winner of the JFXStudio
Challenge, Matthew Hegarty, creator of the JavaFX Video Poker
game, which was written with a total of just 2,994 characters. A
long-time Java programmer, Matt started using JavaFX about two years
ago, and has relied primarily on online resources to learn the
language, following examples posted on various blogs. However, in a
sentiment common to the developer world, Matt states that “the
most effective way of learning is to actually use the language, which
is partly why I've been taking part in the JFXStudio challenges.”

Matt's
idea for the Video Poker game came after hearing Dick Wall of the
Java Posse mention a poker game while discussing the challenge. Even
though Matt thought “it's too obvious,” he forged ahead with
development. The approach Matt took was to write the code normally,
and to aim for no more than 4,500 characters, confident he could cut
it from there. Once he developed a final cut, he had to remove
whitespace, and cut down variable names. However, when he found he
was still 100 characters over he said “I had to try to shave off
extra characters where I could – this involved removing extraneous
semi-colons, re-using strings where I could and even swapping
declarations of MountEvent for FXBase because it had a shorter name!”

Matt
admits there were a few sacrifices he had to make in creating the
game – mainly cutting out animations for the cards – but said, “mostly
by sticking to a simple idea I was able to keep the core of the game
there.” Besides the Video Poker game, Matt has used
JavaFX in other
application development to include a previous entry into a JFXStudio
challenge called Reaction Time task, while another is an educational
application called PsyKit
– a face recognition task – for students of psychology.

Matthew Hegarty

When
discussing JavaFX Matt said: “Once
you get used to the style of the language you can create applications
very quickly,” stating that it makes it easy and quick to translate
an idea into “something
working on screen, and that really keeps programming fun.” Matt was
able to get the basics of his Video Poker game going in
only a couple of hours, which he said was the result of “the
more you use it [JavaFX],
the more efficient you become.”

Wednesday Dec 09, 2009

Reviews
Interactive recently spoke with José
Rubi-Gonzalo from WhiteStone
Technology
about how the company is currently using JavaFX in the Workflow
component of its Consolidated Service Desk and IT Service Management
product. Specifically, WhiteStone utilized JavaFX to create an
intuitive tool with a rich set of functionalities that allows users
to create complex business processes using a visual approach.
José
points out that “UI
design is key for a successful application,”
and noted that JavaFX has helped WhiteStone differentiate from other
competitors in the service desk industry by giving them the
capabilities to create a visually rich UI that not only helps users
be more comfortable, but productive as well.

José
said the JavaFX technology was announced at a time when the
WhiteStone was already looking to update its Workflow tool which
José
said “needed to evolve,” to add more functionality without
limiting growth. He said the technology “matched exactly our
needs – a Java based language that fit nicely into our existing
J2EE framework, multi-platform, and multi-screen.” José
said there was a very fast adoption of the technology by the
development team noting: “JavaFX is very easy to pick up for
Java developers so our team was writing code on JavaFX in no time.”

José
said a simple integration process was another key factor in selecting
JavaFX because WhiteStone needed to protect its past technology
investments. However, since the original application was developed
on J2EE, José said introducing JavaFX was “straightforward.”
José said WhiteStone is now able to deliver more features on a
faster timeline “because our development capability has grown
very significantly with the technology change.” When asked
about what he liked most about using JavaFX in the service desk
application José responded: “For me, personally, is the
peace of mind that JavaFX gives me, because I know we have the
ability to maintain and grow our application with the level of
quality interaction and visual design that our users expect.”

Looking
to the future, José said the company is looking to continue
incorporating JavaFX into the rest of the service desk application
while also exploring the potential of using JavaFX for a mobile
platform to extend the capabilities of field service users.
WhiteStone is also working on deploying a system with a software UI
developed entirely in JavaFX for one of the leading hospitals in
Spain, that will help increase quality of life for patients. As
José
pointed out, when starting work on this new project “we knew we
could not just write another web interface...with JavaFX we had the
capacity to produce the application we envision, mixing an innovative
interactive design with great visual capabilities.”

To
learn
more about WhiteStone's experience with JavaFX, read the full
interview here.

Wednesday Dec 02, 2009

Reviews
Interactive recently spoke with Jens Arndt from Ubivent,
'Europe's
leading virtual event specialist.' Ubivent both designs and conducts
customized virtual events, and has based its entire platform on
JavaFX. The primary reason Ubivent selected JavaFX is because the
technology allows developers to create customizable graphics controls
and effects in the events platform, which is essential for Ubivent
customers who are utilizing virtual events as a marketing instrument,
and need to ensure that all events fit corporate design guidelines.

Jens said that JavaFX
makes
the UI easier to customize and configure in many ways, by allowing
the 3D architecture to change for each event, without having to alter
the general design. As he pointed out, with JavaFX: “All of
the UI is configured using XML files which are synchronized between
the servers and the clients using our proprietary protocol. We then
bind our DOM directly to the UI elements and so we can push updates
instantly to running clients.” Jens said this has
allowed Ubivent to create a much simpler process then what could be
achieved with other programming languages and platforms.

Beyond the freedom in design
JavaFX
provides, Jens pointed out that “from our
perspective, the most critical element is the fact that JavaFX is a
powerful programming language, which makes developments really easy.”
He went on to state that the clear structure of JavaFX “allows
us to achieve a high degree of code re-usability within our
projects,” while also allowing developers to use already
established debugging tools. These details, along with the binding
for UI components and overall integration with existing Java code,
have helped Ubivent to improve “day-to-day efficiency in
developing our platform.”

In
looking to the future, Ubivent plans to leverage the capabilities of
JavaFX to develop a sophisticated “what-you-see-is-what-you-get-like”
admin tool to allow
customers to have even more flexibility in the set-up and
administration of virtual events. Jens also reports that
Ubivent is additionally looking to build an evaluation and reporting
app for the platform, as the company moves towards building a
complete user-friendly event infrastructure, saying: “JavaFX
helps us attain this goal." He is looking forward to added features
and
functionalities in JavaFX including getting increased accessibility
support, media capturing capability, and a fully functional password
field, but said right now, "in
general we're totally happy with JavaFX."

To read more about
how Ubivent has integrated JavaFX in its virtual events platform, read
the full
interview here.

Monday Oct 26, 2009

Software
architect Mark
Nankman was the winner of the September
JFXStudio challenge, which required developers to build an
application with 30 or fewer lines of code in a single JavaFX file
(30 lines as counted by actual lines, or 3,000 characters), with a
'time' theme. Mark's Pacman clock application took first place and
caught the attention of many because of the creativity and complexity
demonstrated within the small file. Mark has several years of
experience in Java programming, and has recently turned his focus to
Web 2.0 and RIA development, which is how he became interested in
JavaFX. He said he used to develop Adobe Flex front-ends to interact
with Java back-ends, but didn't like the fact that it required 3
programming languages! Turning to JavaFX Mark found that the
programming language "makes
developing maintainable rich web applications a lot easier."

Mark began using JavaFX in October of 2008, and said that he relied
primarily on online tutorials to learn the programming language. Among
the top sites he utilized are: JavaFX.com,
JFXStudio, and Jim
Weaver's JavaFXpert
blog. When learning JavaFX, Mark set himself a goal to build a complete
application, which resulted in his TweetBox
Twitter client. To build the application Mark enlisted the help of the JFXtras site as well as the advice of
other JavaFX developers. The project is open sourced and Mark is
actively looking for other developers to join the project, so be sure
to contact him if you are
interested!

When discussing Mark's winning Pacman clock application, he noted that
it was relatively easy to build, and said he had a functioning product
within 30 minutes of starting, stating that with JavaFX “you can do
a lot with just a little code.” Mark said he needed to use just a
few simple manipulations to keep the code within the 30-line limit,
such as using compact SVGPaths, along with several other tricks he
listed on his blog.
Overall, Mark noted that he was “amazed at just how powerful JavaFX
is.” He reported only having to sacrifice one feature in his
application – the ability to dynamically resize the clock – which he
said simply couldn't be crammed into the 30-line application.

Mark Nankman

Mark said his favorite feature
with JavaFX is "the fact that all three dimensions of the MVC model
can (and must) be programmed and specified in the same, clean language."
Mark has already been hard at work on his entry for the October JFXStudio challenge,
which has the same 30-line, 3000-character size constraints, with the
theme 'five.' For this challenge Mark developed and published a Mayan
calculator, based on their ancient counting system, which can be found here.
He noted that when developing this application facing the same
constraints as last month's challenge he was "yet again amazed by
how much you can do with just a few lines of code" in JavaFX.

Wednesday Oct 21, 2009

1. Should
there be a DB API for JavaFX?
–- nick-software.blogspot.com, 10/14
The blogger said
he believes that the lack of a DB API is “a possible gaping hole
when it comes to developing mobile JavaFX applications.” He stated
“it would make sense” to have a database available to run on the
high and mid-range mobile devices and gave his argument for why the
JavaFX team should develop one.

3. Creating
a Simple Game in JavaFX (Part 1, 2, 3)
-– blog.exprimeit.co.uk, 10/15, 10/16
The blogger published
a step-by-step account (with code) of how he re-wrote a game
originally developed with JavaSE and Java2D in JavaFX since he wanted
to see “how much easier writing the game would be using the graphic
oriented JavaFX script language.”

4. javax.accessibility
for JavaFX
–- jfxstudio.wordpress.com, 10/14
Ubivent posted
their newly-developed javax.accessibility package with a Swing
component now included in the JFrame so as to make up for the lack of
native accessibility support in JavaFX “for assisting visually
impaired people.” The team described how to use the support and
shared the source code for the new solution.

5. Enterprise
JavaFX for the Web Platform
-– InfoQ.com, 10/12
Peter Pilgrim posted
a video presentation he gave at QCon in which he introduced the
JavaFX platform, presented the scripting language as well as the
standard deployment method of applications, and client applications
with the server.

Wednesday Oct 07, 2009

1. FXStudio
small is the new big, challenge submission
– Java Development and other BS, 10/1
The blogger said,
“it is amazing what you can do in 30 lines of JavaFX script,”
when reflecting on his entry into the JavaFXStudio challenge, and
also said JavaFX Script is (more) efficient than Java, particularly
given the limitations for the challenge.

2. WidgetFX
Experiences
– JFXperience.com, 9/27
Blogger Yannick reported
on the development of his RadioFX Widget entry in the WidgetFX
contest saying that he only began working on the widget one week
before the deadline which he said, “shows that JavaFX allows for
pretty fast application development; with little time you can still
make cool things!”

3. Born
out of Boredom
– Sumit Bisht, 9/26
Blogger Sumit Bisht reported
that he is studying JavaFX and admitted that while he was initially
skeptical about the technology, a little experience has allayed his
fears. He said that his initial impressions with “playing around
with this yet-another-scripting-language for the JVM” have him
thinking the programming language “is nicely done (especially the
integration with NetBeans).”

4. When
to use timelines
– The JavaFX Journey, 9/26
The blogger stated
that “timelines are a critical part of JavaFX,” noting that “the
structure of JavaFX's is very concise and robust,”
yet too many timelines in a complex system can be
tricky and present problems. He gave an example describing his new
Clash game and how he successfully moved the timelines to the
infinite game loop for better logic and UI performance.

5. Social
Networking in Telematics
– lodgON, 9/25
Johan Vos described
his company's new JavaFX mobile client, which uses GPS data through
JSR 179. He said “I was extremely happy and positively surprised
when I discovered that JavaFX supports JSR 179,” before continuing
to say “this is one of the reasons I believe in JavaFX: easy
support for real devices.”

6. Webcam
with JavaFX
– JavaFX by Kuldip, 9/25
The blogger said
that despite its progress, JavaFX “still misses key features like
recording of audio or video, accessing of native devices right from
within JavaFX.” He acknowledged that it could be done using JMF
but noted, “if I have to use Java then why do I need JavaFX...JFX
is supposed to be making developers lives way more easier and that is
the reason I love it.”

7. Yet
Another Simple JavaFX Time-Based animation
– JFXStudio: sketch, hack, share, 9/30
Muhammad Hakim posted
his JFXStudio challenge time-based application noting how easy it was
to create with JavaFX by saying “a half hour I think is enough to
create something like this.” He also shared the source code for
his application and posted a demonstration video.

8. 30
Lines of JavaFX –
Steve on Java, 9/29
Steve Chin discussed
his entry into the JFXStudio contest and showed the full code for the
application as well as the shorter version he edited to meet the
3,000 character limit (something he noted is not a recommended coding
practice). He also noted that all elements were rendered using
JavaFX Shape and Text primitives with Perspective Transform effects.

9. JavaFX
location example with GPS
– lodgON, 9/26
Johan Vos stated
that “one of the cool things about the JavaFX Mobile platform
running on my HTC Diamond phone is the easy integration with GPS.” He
posted a simple JavaFX example with the GPS that demonstrates how
to obtain your position in JavaFX.

10. Pickin'
and grinnin' with the JFXtras Picker control
– James Weaver's JavaFX Blog, 9/25
Jim Weaver demonstrated
the newest enhancement to his SpeedReaderFX that now takes advantage
of the Picker control created by David Armitage in the JFXtras
project. Jim described how the Picker control helps users to quickly
choose different entries of a specific feed type.

Thursday Oct 01, 2009

Reviews
Interactive recently had a conversation with JavaFX
developer Dean
Iverson. Dean has been writing software professionally for more
than 15 years and is one of the co-authors of the recently released Pro
JavaFX Platform book,. He is currently employed by the Virginia
Tech Transportation Institute where he is a senior researcher and
rich client application developer. He also has a small software
consultancy called Pleasing
Software Solutions which he co-founded with his wife.

Dean wrote his first lines of JavaFX code at JavaOne in
2007 and developed his first JavaFX application in the summer of 2008
on
the preview SDK. With this preview SDK, Dean built a small Web service
client for work that he reports “is still in use today.” Dean
noted that at the time he was learning JavaFX, “the best source of
information was compiler developers.” He subsequently got involved
with the Pro JavaFX Platform book with co-authors Jim Weaver, Stephen
Chin, and Weiqi Gao because “I loved the language and the
runtime and wanted to help spread the word about this awesome new
technology stack to a wider audience.”

When
asked what he liked the most about JavaFX Dean had a lengthy list of
favorites to include: the ability to bind to arbitrary expressions,
the declarative syntax, the runtime's CSS-like syntax for styling
applications, along with the ability to easily interface with Java
code. Dean summed it up by saying: “Suffice it to say that
JavaFX has a lot of advanced features, and for me personally it does
all this in a way that makes sense. It fits my mind like a glove, so
to speak.”

Dean Iverson

Dean actively uses JavaFX at
work for small- to
medium-sized Web service clients, which he said “is really the
sweet spot for the technology at the moment.” Looking to the
future Dean noted that “JavaFX's killer feature is being able to
unify development for all of the devices we see today.” He
said continued applet support for the mobile and TV is critical to
ensuring people get the rich user experience they have come to expect
these days and that “JavaFX has the potential to greatly
simplify development in a world populated by such disparate computing
platforms.”

Tuesday Sep 29, 2009

1. Using
JavaFX Classes Directly From Java
– Carstens blog, 9/23
The blogger noted
that from the “Swing side of the fence, the grass on the JavaFX
side certainly sometimes seems a lot greener,” but said he didn't
want to be “bothered with the JavaFX language.” Therefore, he
demonstrated how to access JavaFX jars from Swing to get an applet up
and running in JavaFX 1.2.

2. Multi-threading
options in Rich Internet Applications
– Silverlighter, 9/24
Blogger Danijel Stulic stated
that the use of multi-threading is a must in any complex RIA in order
to avoid poor user experience. He looked at the competing
technologies and reported he was surprised that JavaFX script is
single-threaded. However, he noted that while all threading options
are handled in Java code in the JRE, some multi-threading
improvements are expected in the next JavaFX release.

3. DSL
Calculator
– Arno Raps, 9/23
The blogger presented
a DSL calculator created with JavaFX 1.2, which he said “has native
support for databinding and charts, saving a lot of time.” He also
pointed out that creating the chart in the calculator was very simple
because “JavaFX supports a number of charts.”

4. So
What Kind of Interesting Things
– Sunshine2k's blog, 9/18
The blogger, who has been playing with JavaFX as a hobby said
the programming language “has some really cool features like
binding, animations, and effects.” He said JavaFX is a “better
way to design cooler Java applets” rather than trying to write them
in “plain Java.”

5. Wish
list for converting Adobe Illustrator Files to JavaFX
– Lucas Jordan's Blog, 9/18
Blogger Lucas Johnson said
he loves how easily Adobe Illustrator graphics can be exported to “a
format friendly JavaFX,” but reported that he struggles with how
the nodes are named. He suggested a modification to the naming
format that he said “would turn Illustrator and Photoshop into very
powerful tools for creating complex content in a JavaFX application.”

6. The
Bluffer's Guide to JavaFX , part 1
– Inside RIA, 9/18
Simon Morris took a neutral stance in this article to discuss
the pro's and con's of JavaFX. Among the high points he notes that
JavaFX is a single declarative language that unites the development
of the user interface with writing the code, as well as JavaFX script
allowing bound expressions to be as complex as necessary “including
numerous variable references to different objects.”

2. JavaFX
Charts and General Discussion
– MarbleMice.com, 9/15
The blogger discussed
his recent work with JavaFX charts noting that “JavaFX charts are
not really suited to dragging points around and the level of
intractability I want.” Therefore, he developed his own simple
editable line chart although he stated, “I will still use the JFX
Chart everywhere I can as they are pretty easy to use.”

3. Week
3.2 Knowledge Experiment
– SpikyOrange, 9/12
Blogger Rob, who admitted
to having a “limited knowledge of JavaFX,” developed a small
scene graph that “shows you how quickly a newbie can pick up JavaFX
and run with it!” He was pleased to find the code required for his
experiment was pretty small and said “I think I am going to like
JavaFX!”

4. New
Graphics – New Challenges
– The JavaFX Journey, 9/11
The blogger reported
that he recently reworked the graphics engine in his JavaFX game
Clash, and said “fortunately for me, JavaFX is able to handle it in
spades.” He noted that JavaFX can handle up to 50 characters on
the screen, moving at different times and said “I am beyond
pleasantly surprised that it can.”

5. JavaFX
wordpress calendar widget –
Michel LeBlond Blog, 9/17
The blogger completed
a redesign and integration of the JavaFX calendar widget to function
in Wordpress. He said the applet was modified using NetBeans and the
Bluefish HTML editor and described how the widget was further
customized and optimized to perform on Wordpress.

7. JavaFX
and RSS
– Macca Blog, 9/14
Blogger Mark revisited
the RSS feature in JavaFX, which he noted people “tend to quickly
forget about,” and described and demonstrated the RSS support in
JavaFX in this tutorial by working with the javafx.data.feed.rss
package and the RssTask class.

8. JavaFX
classes constructors
– Mils in a Nutshell, 9/14
The blogger reported
that he had been struggling with a JavaFX object oriented model
because there were no classes constructors in JavaFX. He did find a
way to combine several steps to create a type of constructor (similar
to Java) and demonstrated how to do so in this tutorial.

9. Sticky
Note, A JavaFX Tutorial
– Gooder Code, 9/12
Blogger Kerry posted
a tutorial that demonstrated how he developed his first JavaFX
program called Sticky Note, that mimics the Windows 7 feature Sticky
Notes. He said it provides a sticky note that the user can open and
fill with reminders, which are saved and restored between application
runs.

10. JavaFX
Password Field
– Martin Matula's Blog, 9/12
Blogger Martin reported
that since there is no password field in JavaFX, he decided to create
one since he was not pleased with any of the workarounds he
discovered. He presented his Password Field and the code to create
it in this post, and described it as “an elegant and simple
solution,” noting that “it looks and behaves exactly as you would
expect of a password field.”

11. Using
Transitions to Simplify JavaFX Animations
– InformIT, 9/9
Jeff Friesen discussed
how JavaFX simplifies common animations by providing “canned”
animation transition classes, which he introduced in this tutorial. He
also shows how to create your own additional classes in this
in-depth tutorial.

Monday Aug 24, 2009

Reviews
Interactive recently talked with Jonathan
Giles, a JavaFX evangelist and
software engineer from New Zealand who primarily builds enterprise
applications and specializes in user interface/user experience
development. Jonathan is a huge fan of Java, and is well-known among
Java developers for publishing his 'Java desktop links of the week'
on his blog. Jonathan,
as a developer of enterprise software, approaches JavaFX with a
different perspective, and looks to see the program utilized in
various enterprise applications in the form of controls such as
buttons, lists, menubars, tables, and trees.

Jonathan is a
relatively
new developer in the JavaFX environment, and only recently began
working with the program after winning a trip to JavaOne in the “Dude,
where's
my pass?” contest. Jonathan reported that at JavaOne he was
“brainwashed” by members of the JavaFX team when they showed him
the work that had been done on controls. He stated: “I was
pleasantly surprised and for the first time saw huge potential in
JavaFX to be a player in the enterprise software arena, as well as in
other areas...such as RIA.”

True to form,
Jonathan
reported that his favorite feature in the JavaFX 1.2 release is the
new controls and the framework around them and noted “JavaFX 1.2
created a very good, clean foundation for future JavaFX releases to
include new controls.” Jonathan just finished an early release
of a JavaFX menubar control which “allows people to have the
'File' and other menus atop their applications,” and is now
available in the JFXtras project.

Jonathan Giles

As to the future
of
JavaFX, Jonathan said “I want to see the future of JavaFX
continue its focus on building out controls,” which he said he
would like to see followed up with an improved graphics stack and
improved performance. He stated that once that happens a
JavaFX application framework should be developed and made available.
Jonathan believes if this happens JavaFX “will be at the
point where it can be seriously considered and used by people wanting
to build enterprise software.”

Tuesday Aug 18, 2009

Reviews
Interactive recently spoke with JavaFX
developer Stephen Chin, a
prolific developer and blogger within the JavaFX community. Steve is
one of the co-authors of the recently released Pro
JavaFX Platform book, and was also named a JavaOne 2009 Rock Star
for his WidgetFX
session. Steve began working in JavaFX in May 2008, after being
challenged by Sun's Josh Marinacci to write a program in JavaFX. The
challenge turned into the development of WidgetFX, and has kept Steve “heavily
involved with JavaFX,” ever since.

Steve recently launched a new JFXtras
Community Site,
which is an
open resource and forum for the entire JavaFX community. Steve
pulled together samples from multiple contributors across the JavaFX
community under a commercial-friendly, open-source license. The
samples are intended to help users learn and explore the language.
The site also features additional JavaFX resources and documentation.
Steve also continues to work with WidgetFX, a desktop widget
framework for Java written entirely and JavaFX, as well as JFXtras, a
component and add-on library for JavaFX.

In discussing the new JavaFX 1.2
release Steve said, “Java
FX 1.2 is a huge step forward for the platform!” He stated that the
Skinnable Controls,
New Layout Classes, and
Charting Support are, in his opinion, the most important new features
in the release. When asked how JavaFX has changed the way developers
create RIAs Steve said: “JavaFX
takes the best of client technology with a rich scenegraph, elegant
animation support, and built-in media playback, and combines this
with web service access, designer skinning and tools, and full
browser integration....for the first time, Java client and Web
developers can join forces to build applications that are immersive,
rather than tiered.”

Stephen Chin

Commenting
on the future of JavaFX, Steve noted that all modern technology
startups are required to demonstrate their technology working across
a wide variety of mediums, which generally requires programming in 5
or 6 different languages with incompatible feature sets and
code bases. Therefore, Steve believes “JavaFX
brings the promise of write-once, run-anywhere to all of these
screens, which will dramatically reduce time-to-market of innovative
solutions, and unlock applications that we can't even dream of
today.”

Monday Aug 10, 2009

Reviews
Interactive recently talked with Evgeni Sergeev, developer of the ShiningEtherFX
application that won third place in the JavaFX
Coding Challenge. Evgeni is a student at the University of
Western Australia, where he is working on an Honors project in
computer vision, having recently earned degrees in Electrical and
Electronic Engineering, and Computer and Mathematical Sciences.
Evgeni just started learning JavaFX in May and commented on the short
amount of time it took him to learn the program by noting “it's
a fast learning process.” Evgeni taught himself JavaFX by
using a number of different articles he found online, shown in the
full interview below, as resources.

Evgeni
said he found the combination of instance initializers and bind
semantics in JavaFX to be the most useful aspect in creating his
ShiningEtherFX application. He stated: “The binding concept is
beautiful because you can have a UI element that is actually bound to
the underlying model...it is actually bound, because as a programmer,
you don't have to worry about refreshing the view or updating the
model – there is no way it won't be updated or refreshed, given the
JavaFX way of doing things.”

Evgeni
explained how JavaFX made it easy to develop ShiningEtherFX with
helpful features for the end user. For example, to make the
workplace draggable Evgeni said “it only took five lines
of code or therabouts,” saying “implementing that was a dream.”
In general, Evgeni noted that JavaFX “makes
it easy to
take care of a lot of this sort of functionality that users nowadays
expect to see everywhere,” noting
that just because a user expects something, doesn't mean it is easier
to write, and credits JavaFX with anticipating many common use cases.

Evgeni Sergeev

As
a developer, Evgeni said he appreciates that JavaFX “is
not trying to be some kind of a minimalist language.” With regard
to the rapid release cycle
and the recent introduction
of JavaFX 1.2 Evgeni noted “The fact that you are not
afraid of introducing changes that are not backward-compatible is
great because RIAs are here to stay for a long time, and we want a
tool that is the best it can be.” Overall,
Evgeni said: “JavaFX has many positives, not to mention
being free for the developer, and it is just the barrier of learning
something new that it must help developers overcome.”

Wednesday Jul 29, 2009

Reviews
Interactive recently sat down with Sten
Anderson, developer of the grand prize winning JavaFX
Coding Challenge application, Music
Explorer FX. Sten has been working with Java since the late '90s
and is currently a Senior Consultant for the software consultancy,
Citytech, in Chicago. Sten began working with JavaFX at the time of
the preview release, in August 2008. Sten said he learned JavaFX
through trial and error, but claimed “I found it fairly easy to
get up to speed in the new language, which is more of a testament to
the language design than it is my ability to learn new things.”

Through
his years of experience as a developer, Sten has grown convinced that
applications are “all about end-user experience,” noting
that users will not use any application that isn't perceived as
usable. Sten said one of the highlights of JavaFX is its ability to
excel “at creating rich, interactive, visual user interfaces
which I think are ultimately easier to use.” He described
JavaFX as “a DSL for creating compelling user interfaces,”
pointing out that “JavaFX makes it easier for a developer to
create something good.”

Sten Anderson

Sten
found that the most useful aspect of JavaFX in developing Music
Explorer FX was “its near-seamless integration with the Java
language and platform.” Sten also pointed out that he “would
not have been able to write the application in the same time-frame
without being able to lean on my existing Java knowledge.” Sten
noted that as a Java developer he “found the syntax of
JavaFX a welcome respite from the more verbose Java language.”

As a career Java
developer, Sten noted when comparing RIA platforms, that “Java
FX is 'better' simply because it's Java.” He said it all boils
down to that fact being JavaFX's winning differentiator: “Since
JavaFX plays so well with Java, its newness is compensated by the
extreme age and maturity of the core Java platform.” He
said it also gives Java developers a way to utilize their existing
skill set when developing RIAs, by letting them stay “closer to
home,” giving them the option to stay within the “Java
Ecosystem.”

Wednesday Jul 08, 2009

Note: This
post is the first in a
series of ongoing interviews Reviews Interactive is conducting with
product experts who use various Sun technologies and blog about their
experiences to both share their insight and examples, as well as help
other developers better understand these technologies. Reviews
interactive will talk to these experts to discuss new product updates
and releases, how they are utilizing the technologies in their current
projects, and what they hope to see in the future.

Reviews
Interactive recently spoke with JavaFX
developer Fabrizio Giudici, a prominent and highly-respected blogger
in the JavaFX community who writes regularly for both Java.net
and DZone.
Fabrizio said he is particularly interested in using JavaFX on
mobile devices, which he stated is a great platform to give
applications “all the bells and
whistles.”

Fabrizio's
current work with JavaFX is primarily focused on the open source blueMarine project,
which he started several years ago. The blueMarine project
encompasses a series of tools to support photographers such as a windRose, an
expandable
geo-tagging tool which he is looking to leverage for taking notes in
the field. Using JavaFX, Fabrizio recently developed and is still
testing an application called blueBillMobile,
which expands on the geo-tagging capabilities of windRose for
birdwatchers. Fabrizio reported that he developed his working
prototype of blueBillMobile in only one week, which he says “would
have been impossible with Java Micro Edition.”

Fabrizio Giudici

When
asked how JavaFX would change the way developers create RIA
applications, Fabrizio said he sees JavaFX as having the potential to
fill a gap between regular programmers and graphic designers, which
he noted “would make it possible to
create better looking
applications and/or reduce the costs for developing a good looking
application.” This is particularly important he said because
“often excellent software developers,
even with a developed taste
for fine looking stuff, don't have themselves the skills to create
fine looking stuff – but they believe they do, and the results
are...well, not so good.”

Fabrizio
said he is most impressed with the new widgets in the 1.2 release of
JavaFX, and also pointed out that because of his interest in mobile
development, the addition of portable classes to access local storage
was also an important feature. With regards to the future, Fabrizio
said he is most interested in JavaFX tools, including the JavaFX
Authoring Tool that was recently demonstrated at JavaOne. Fabrizio said
he
hopes to see “developments in tools
for quality assurance, such as
testing, static code analysis, coverage reporting and so on – the
kind of stuff we got used to in the Java world.”